In the UK, Bradford is probably best recognised as the curry capital of the North. In the 1950’s, thousands of incoming Asians moved to Bradford to work in the labour intensive textile factories. Unfortunately, most of the textile jobs have now gone, leaving Bradford as a depressed, poor and crumbling city. However, one of the few business growth areas comes with the number of curry restaurants. For the curry connoisseur, choice is plentiful and the prices keen. Many of the incomers to the region are Muslim, and while the food is similar to Hindu Indian, I prefer its slightly less sweet taste.
The Kashmiri restaurant, K2 is located on one of Bradford’s most notorious streets, Manningham’s Lumb Lane. This was the heart of the red-light district, and haunt of the Yorkshire Ripper. Today, thankfully the street is tidier and safer than of old. We even felt we might have a fighting chance that our car would still be there when we returned.
K2 seems to be a restaurant of faded reputation. In the mid-late 1990’s famous food critic Egon Roney bestowed a number of awards upon the place, but the stickers and certificates look a little worn and faded a decade on.
K2 restaurant is reasonably furnished, but again, it looks as though its glory days are behind it. The restaurant is small with about 10 tables on the ground floor. There are some pictures of the K2 mountain (the second highest in the world), on the walls. The kitchen is through a window at the back of the restaurant, and the cooking facilities looked clean and tidy. The "Scores on the Doors" website, which displays results of 90 different UK local authority hygiene inspections, gives the restaurant a good four-star rating. Unfortunately, the upstairs washrooms are in severe need of cleaning. The black greasy smears in the hand basin made me feel my hands were dirtier after washing them, than before!
K2 offers a good range of starters, with some of the vegetarian options (such as Onion Bharjis) coming in particularly cheap (around £1 a portion). As I couldn’t decide, I went for a little bit of everything with a mixed starter, which from memory was about double the price of the standard starters. While I received a good plateful, I was disappointed that my choice didn’t include a sample of the more expensive meat dishes. However, the onion and mushroom bharjis, meat samosa and kebab were very fresh tasting and nicely spiced. The slightly sweet and pink yoghurt sauce and salad are pre-served on the plate.
One little oddity of the restaurant is that you don’t get cutlery with your meal unless you specifically request it. Fingers are the order of the day here (which can make finishing off the yoghurt sauce coated salad a little tricky!).
For main course, I chose the Egon Roney recommended lamb curry with a plain naan. The main course was around £7 per head. I was initially perturbed with my choice, as my lamb dish looked rather greenish grey in colour. I soon discovered the colour was due to a lack of tomato and an excess of fresh blended coriander. The dish was actually quite subtle, and it took me just a little while to appreciate how nice and different it was. The meat was good and lean, and the naan bread suitably soft and so hot as to require asbestos gloves to handle. My beloved, chose a ginger chicken dish, which was exceptionally meaty, and very garlic and ginger heavy. I think she tired a little of the dish by the end, but we enjoyed swapping tastes.
Unfortunately, the K2 staff got one of our dining companion’s meal wrong; she ended up with a plate of thin vegetable curry sauce and a portion of rice. When she explained she had ordered a prawn biriani, the ingredients were hurriedly removed from the table, mixed together and prawns added. Her main course arrived 5 minutes after ours, and given its hurried preparation, was certainly a taste disappointment. I’m not sure why the chef got the order wrong, as the restaurant was empty. I think alarm bells should have rung, as I can’t imagine they normally serve just thin vegetable curry sauce to people!
The K2 is unlicensed, so we just received a jug of iced tap water to accompany our meal. Fortunately, we also brought a bottle of wine from the supermarket to enjoy with our meal. This is acceptable practice, and the restaurant won’t charge corkage.
Summing up, the K2 provided us with a perfectly acceptable and filling meal. At around £10 per head, it is good value. However, the unevenness of the food meant that some of our party enjoyed our meals better than others. The distinctly dodgy bathroom and the sheer abundance of curry food choices in Bradford, means I can’t recommend the K2 as a "must do" restaurant.